Police vs Ellul — Acquitted of Knife Attack Despite Injuries

Sean Ellul was fully acquitted on all three charges after the court found the victim's account not credible and the knife-stabbing scenario physically improbable.

Court of Magistrates (Malta) as a Court of Criminal Judicature · Magistrate Dr. Nadine Sant Lia B.A; LL.M (Kent); LL.D, Barrister at Law (England & Wales) · 04 May 2026

On the evening of 2 November 2023, a violent altercation erupted near a residence in Triq ta' Gidwet, Marsaskala, between Sean Ellul and Cian Portelli — the 17-year-old son of Ellul's partner Melanie Portelli. The victim claimed Ellul punched him, smashed a beer bottle on his head, and then stabbed him in the back with a knife retrieved from inside the flat. Ellul denied using a knife, said he was the one being attacked, and was the first to report the incident to police. The independent witness — the landlady Camille Camilleri who arrived to collect rent — found a general brawl inside the apartment. She did not witness Ellul attacking the victim, and her testimony placed the fight inside the flat, contradicting the victim's claim it happened outside. Three members of the Rapinett family who were present declined to testify to avoid self-incrimination. Melanie Portelli sided with Ellul. On the knife charge, the court had serious doubts about the victim's credibility. He claimed the bottle was smashed on his head, but the treating doctor found only slight swelling — no fracture. More significantly, the court found it physically improbable that a knife thrown from inside a doorway could have struck someone on the pavement with sufficient precision to penetrate clothing and cause a laceration. The court noted that the heavy handle of a knife normally falls first when thrown, meaning the blade would not be leading — making the described stabbing scenario a remote possibility that was never sufficiently proven. On the violence and threatening behaviour charges, the court noted that no witness testified about what was actually said or done by Ellul that would satisfy the elements of those offences. Finding evidential gaps on all three charges, the court acquitted Sean Ellul in full.

Sean Ellul: fully acquitted and discharged from all guilt and punishment on all three charges — Article 221(2) (slight bodily harm by knife), Article 251(1) (use of violence/coercion), and Article 251(3) read with Article 222(1) (threatening behaviour). No penalty imposed.

• A medical certificate that does not match the victim's own description of their injuries — such as claiming a bottle was smashed on the head when the doctor found only slight swelling — is a serious credibility problem that can undermine the entire prosecution case.
• Maltese courts apply the criminal standard of proof (moral conviction beyond reasonable doubt) strictly: even where injuries exist and an argument clearly happened, the court cannot convict if the specific allegation — such as who used a knife — is not proven to that standard.
• The physical mechanics of how an injury could have occurred matter: a court can reject an allegation as a 'remote possibility' if the described scenario is physically improbable, even if not impossible.
• When multiple eyewitnesses refuse to testify to avoid self-incrimination, the prosecution is left with fewer witnesses and the gaps in evidence fall against them, not the defendant.
• Being the first person to file a police report after an incident is a relevant fact that courts can weigh in assessing the credibility of the accused's version of events.

Criminal Code Ch. 9 — Articles 214, 215, 221(1), 221(2) (slight bodily harm by cutting instrument), 251(1) (use of violence/coercion), 251(3) & 222(1) (threatening behaviour); procedural Articles 370(3), 392(1) of the Criminal Code Ch. 9